It’s Day 6 at home with my parents in the country. There is a high possibility that it could also be day 6 of taking a nap. I couldn’t be happier and neither could the dogs.

While I have been here I haven’t really done any cooking until today. My parents have been so great and have loved cooking for me just so that I can relax. Well, at least try to relax. I’ve been working on wedding stuff all week to help my sister out who is getting married this weekend. Y’all would be so impressed to know that I am even doing the centerpieces myself. Yes, that is correct all by myself! I even finished the wedding programs on Monday. I have never told any of you that I graduated college wanting to be an event planner. Little did I know that I would fall in love with oil and gas industry. So any planning that I can do with work, family or friends excites me to no end!

Now on to my first cooked meal in the “Heart of Texas.” I decided to try something a little different for my parents. My mother has a huge stocked pantry so after scavenging in there for about 15 minutes I knew I would be making Mexican Pasta. I just needed a few other ingredients but mainly already had everything on hand.

It is so hard to cook and bake in someone else’s kitchen. Especially when you are trying to take photos of the food and the only thing your mother has is clear bowls, clear plates, and crystal. For right now I am going to have to deal with having no props.

Good news is that they loved dinner and even my sister came over to scrounge up any leftovers.

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Mexican Pasta

Yield: 6-8 servings

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Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 3 cups Farfalle Pasta, cooked according to box directions
• 1 10oz. can enchilada sauce
• 1 cup onions, diced
• 1 10oz. can mild rotel tomatoes, drained
• 1 4.5oz. can chopped green chiles
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 4 Tbsp cream cheese
• cilantro, chopped for topping

Instructions

Cook pasta according to the box directions, then drain and rinse with cold water.

In a saute pan cook the meat until brown and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the enchilada sauce and onions to the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes, green chiles, cumin, paprika and salt. Stir and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Then slowly add 1 cup of the monterey cheese and cream cheese to the pan. Cook for 3-4 more minutes.

Add the meat and pasta to the large saute pan with the sauce and mix everything up. Pour into a large casserole dish and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and top with the 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese and place back in oven for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with fresh chopped cilantro.

Did you make this recipe?

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